Brian HeaterKodak Zi6 Pocket Video CameraKodak's first dedicated video camera carves out its niche in the YouTube camcorder space, offering HD capabilities. Whether that's a plus or a minus comes down to how much you value video quality in an inexpensive video camera.

Kodak's first dedicated video camera carves out its niche in the YouTube camcorder space, offering HD capabilities. Whether that's a plus or a minus comes down to how much you value video quality in an inexpensive video camera.

Pure Digital's Flip helped launch the low-priced camcorder revolution last year, and it had price, portability, and ease of use on its side. With the Flip, the focus was on capturing short clips for streaming video sites, and its picture was, at best, a distant concern. With the letters "HD" emblazoned high on the front of its faceplate, the Kodak Zi6 ($179.95 direct) clearly has different priorities in mind, and as such, it may carve out an interesting niche in this nascent category.

Aesthetically, the Zi6 hews closely to Kodak's EasyShare point-and-shoot camera line, with a bulky black and silver body. It's not as slick as the Creative Vado, nor is it as compact as the new Flip Mino. The Zi6 is actually larger than both in thickness, height, and width. The last dimension, at least, can be chalked up to the camcorder's display, which is, at an impressive 2.4 inches, by far the largest on the three models and is easily the clearest screen I've seen on an ultra-low-end camcorder.

At 5.76 ounces, the Zi6 is also the heaviest of the three. Much of the weight can be attributed to the camcorder's reliance on AA batteries (making the total weight more comparable with the Mino's predecessor, the Ultra), rather than the rechargeable lithium ones that fuel the Mino and Vado. Beyond the added heft, the use of AA cells is a tradeoff. Should your camera's battery run out on the road, it's a lot easier to find a couple of AAs than the right-model lithium ion. Of course, even these small cameras can eat up a couple of batteries in no time flat, so frequent videographers will find themselves going through Energizers rapidly. Kodak, to its credit, includes both rechargeable AAs and a charger in the package. The fact that you can't charge the device with your PC's USB ports seems like a minor quibble.

Kodak borrows the retractable USB side arm design from the Flip. Creative had the right idea when it gave the Vado a flexible USB dongle, helping the camera navigate more easily around a computer's sometimes crowded ports. Given the Zi6's added girth, that would have been a real plus here, had it been offered. The button layout on the rear of the camcorder retains a fairly familiar spread, with Preview, Stop, and Trash controls. Kodak adds a small joystick between them for zoom, volume, and toggling between videos. Pressing in the stick starts the Record function. The camcorder's power switch is located, less conveniently, on top of the device.

There's about 32MB of available onboard memory, which will give you only a few seconds' worth of recording time at the highest setting, so you'll inevitably be reliant on removable memory. The side of the Zi6 boasts an SD/SDHC card slot, which is expandable up to 32GB, whereas the Vado and Mino both max out at 2GB. When capturing in HD (720p) on a typical 2GB SD card, you can record 30 minutes of content at 60 frames per second, 40 minutes at 30 fps, and 170 minutes when the camera is set to VGA. The reliance on SD cards can be a positive or a negative. While cards are an inevitable extra expense, the option of added memory is good for those who don't want to continually erase filesparticularly those who prefer to record at a high setting. It's also quite possible that you already own one or two SD cards.

The star here, of course, is the camera's video quality. The Vado and Mino can't touch HD60, the Zi6's highest setting, which captures 720p video at 60 fps. The Zi6's perfect for the burgeoning field of high-def video-streaming sites like Vimeo, and is otherwise suited to DVD burning. The camcorder's lowest-quality setting, VGA, is on a par with the capture quality found on devices like the Flip and Vado and is better suited for uploading to sites like YouTube, thanks to its smaller file size. In VGA mode, the camcorder has the same manner of quality issues as the competition, particularly an abundance of visual noise when attempting to capture motion.

A couple of other image-capturing features warrant noting as well. Since it's a Kodak, it's no surprise that the camcorder also features still-image capture. And while the flashless 1.6MP camera isn't likely to replace your point-and-shoot anytime soon, it's a handy feature in a pinch. Handy too is the built-in macro setting, which lets you take close-up shots in focusa feature both the Mino and the Vado lack. One minor complaint with it, however, is that if you toggle in and out of macro when recording, the Zi6's mic picks up an audible clicking. If this is a problem, I'd suggest sticking with one setting for the duration of a recording.

The Zi6's microphone is comparable with those on the Vado and the Mino. Despite being positioned on the front of the device, it's much more apt to pick up sound from the person operating the camera than from the subject in front of it. Oddly, and likely due to space constraints (thanks to the large display), the speaker is also located on the front, about half an inch below the mic. It is one of the more powerful speakers I've encountered on this category of device, and, coupled with the large LCD, it makes for a pleasant previewing experience.

ArcSoft's MediaImpression software is built into the device. When you plug the Zi6 into a Window's PC, you will be prompted to install it on your system. It's not the most robust app you can get, but if you don't have video-editing software on your computer, you'll find it'll work for simple tasks. It also makes uploading to YouTube a snap, without having to visit the site.

At $179.99, Kodak's first dedicated video camera is the same price as the Mino but nearly twice the price of the Vado ($99). And to get the full picture of the cost, you may need to factor in the purchase of an SD card as well. Whether that's a good deal depends largely on how much you value HD video. If high-quality image capture is a must, neither the Vado nor the Mino can touch the Zi6. Also, you get still-image capture and a handy macro mode that you won't find in any other device in this class. For these reasons, the Zi6 earns our Editors' Choice. But if you're content with YouTube-style video and don't want to crack the $100 barrier, Creative's Vado is your best bet.

Kodak Zi6 Pocket Video Camera

excellent

Bottom Line: Kodak's first dedicated video camera carves out its niche in the YouTube camcorder space, offering HD capabilities. Whether that's a plus or a minus comes down to how much you value video quality in an inexpensive video camera.

Brian Heater has worked at a number of tech pubs, including Engadget, Laptop, and PCMag (where he served as Senior Editor). Most recently, he was as the Managing Editor of TechTimes.com. His writing has appeared in Spin, Wired, Playboy, Entertainment Weekly, The Onion, Boing Boing, Publishers Weekly, The Daily Beast and various other publications. He hosts the weekly Boing Boing interview podcast RiYL, has appeared as a regular NPR contributor and shares his Queens apartment with a rabbit named Lucy.
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